Talk:Ryoji Mochizuki
It has been proven? (P3P) "In the PSP version of the game, it has been proven that Ryoji is a social link. It automatically starts on the 9th November, however, this is only for the Female Protagonists route. His social link is that of the Fortune Arcana. " >ay I have that proof? A screenshot or video or something? ~ FangzV' ([[User_Talk:FangzV | Flame at me ''here]]) as said on 20:06, November 2, 2009 (UTC)''' Ryoji=Thanatos? It says in the notes section that it may be possible Ryoji resembles Thanatos because he literally is Thanatos. This seems impossible as you can summon him during the battle against Nyx Avatar, who verifies that he is in fact Ryoji during the pre-battle scene. Eyestothesky (talk) 13:11, March 13, 2014 (UTC) Ryoji and Thanatos, as it appears, are dual entities of a sort. You have to remember, Ryoji is the final Shadow. Death itself - thus, the shadow most closely resembling Nyx. Thanatos, god of peaceful death, is the son of Nyx in Greek mythology. Ergo, Ryoji's form as a Shadow was very similar to Thanatos, if not Thanatos with a different physical form. Consider this. Different Personas manifest as having specific physical forms based upon the people who summon them - Take-Mikazuchi looks nothing like he does in P3 when Kanji summons him. This is because root Personas are basically direct manifestations of self - the only reason people of the Fool Arcana can summon so many Personas is because they have many, varied, indistinct selves. Here's where it gets slightly confusing. Both Elizabeth and Aigis can summon Thanatos - Aigis inherited Makoto's power, which is why she has Orpheus. Elizabeth, another Wild Card, simply has the same ability, but not the one Makoto was born with. Ergo, Thanatos' "default" form isn't locked to Makoto - the Thanatos you see Elizabeth, Makoto and Aigis summon are all the generic, 'true' Thanatos. This makes sense because Makoto's two true Personas, Orpheus and Messiah, look incredibly similar, because it represents the Fool facing Death. Death was an outside force, not a power exclusive to Makoto. Therefore, Thanatos wasn't actually a 'part' of his true identity, just an outside force - exactly like Ryoji Mochizuki. Ryoji was introduced later on in Makoto's life, but though Ryoji was sealed inside of him, he didn't actually change Makoto - Makoto changed him. The key point here being, Orpheus and Messiah are Makoto's two true, exclusive Personas, whereas Thanatos happens to be a very powerful 'generic' one. If you've played the original Persona games, you know that Personas aren't literally manifestations of gods and demons themselves, but sort of psychic imprints that fill that mold - Makoto's Death Persona was Thanatos because Thanatos was introduced to him in such an intimate way, but he doesn't truly summon Ryoji when he brings out Thanatos, only a sort of... echo of him. Therefore, yes, Thanatos is Ryoji - but Ryoji isn't the true god of Death, Thanatos, but a Shadow in his form, exactly like how the Thanatos Makoto summons is a similar Shadow in the same form. Based upon this, I move that the Trivia section be clarified - there is reason that the Appriser looks so much like Thanatos. Based on the game's lore, they're very clearly both Shadows occupying the identity of the same being. But hey, I'm just an anon. My word isn't gospel. My argument, however, is fairly thorough. Anyone who reads this, consider it. 22:24, November 19, 2014 (UTC)